The present disclosure relates to an etching method including: a first step of forming an etching assistance layer on a surface of at least one of a plurality of silicon-containing regions by plasma of a processing gas generated in a processing container; and a second step of imparting energy to the etching assistance layer. The energy is equal to or greater than energy at which the etching assistance layer is removed, and smaller than energy at which a region located immediately below the etching assistance layer is sputtered, and a sequence including the first step and the second step is executed repeatedly.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to cause repeating (a) and (b).
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, in (b), the etching assistance layer is removed by imparting an energy at which a region located immediately below the etching assistance layer is not sputtered.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first region of the workpiece has SiN and the second region has SiC.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first region of the workpiece has SiC and the second region has SiN.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, in (b), plasma is generated from an inert gas and an oxygen-containing gas.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, in (b), a halogen plasma is generated from a halogen gas for the etching.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the halogen gas is Cl2, HBr, NF3, CxHyFz, or CxFy (x, y, and z are natural number).
10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second region of the workpiece has SiO2.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first region of the workpiece has SiC and the second region of the workpiece has SiN or SiO2.
12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein, in (b), an oxygen-containing gas is supplied.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the oxygen-containing gas is O2, CO, COS, or CO2.
16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the process further comprising continuously performing the generating of the first plasma and the generating of the second plasma for a predetermined number of times while a vacuum state is maintained.
17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the first region of the workpiece has SiN and the second region of the workpiece has SiC.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
January 3, 2020
October 4, 2022
Browse 5M+ US patents with plain-English claim translations and AI-generated analysis.